The invention relates to an autonomous container ship for carrying containers from large ports equipped with loading and unloading means to small ports lacking such equipment.
xe2x80x9cContainersxe2x80x9d means not only standard containers but also intermodal transportation units, particularly mobile bodies and trailers, as well as the capability of loading bulk freight into the holds.
In particular, the invention relates to a range of small and large ships for carrying freight from small ports to other small ports by containers.
This range is composed of ships for carrying a maximum of two, four, ten, twenty, thirty, fifty, or a hundred containers.
One principal feature of the ship is its full autonomy, so that it can load and/or unload containers in a port not equipped with handling means and with a shallow draft, less than 4 meters.
Freight transport is indeed one of the major drivers of our market economy.
The globalization of international trade, the development of xe2x80x9cjust-in-timexe2x80x9d policies, and the increasing demand for responsiveness are factors that spur land transport, developing expensive highway systems that harm the environment.
The range of ships according to the invention arose from this analysis with the concern of developing complementarity between land transport and sea-river transport.
The goal is to provide sea links from leading or second-line ports to serve the many river ports that are underserved or not served at all with freight transport.
The objective is for trucking companies to pick up the containers from these ports for local distribution to minimize land transport miles.
One of the goals of the present invention is to provide the trucking company with a mobile xe2x80x9csea-river highwayxe2x80x9d infrastructure matching that available on the highway network.
A second goal is to increase the responsiveness of sea-road transportation by carrying small quanties at greater frequencies.
A third goal is to provide a sea-river service with substantial handling self-sufficiency, an optimized pier-to-pier route, and loading/unloading systems fitted to these constraints. This goal implies the ability to carry a large payload relative to the displacement of the ship.
A fourth goal is to provide transportation under service conditions and at mileage costs comparable to road transportation.
There are a number of container ships with a large container-carrying capacity and deep draft, such as those described on pages 315, 338, and 341 of Jane""s Intermodal Transportation. One of these large container ships is the Alianca Brasil with a capacity of 2200 containers, speed 20.4 knots, length 202.23 meters, and draft 12.02 meters. One of the smallest of these container ships is the Hera, capacity 198 containers, speed 12.5 knots, length 88 meters, and draft 4.6 meters.
These container ships usually unload in port terminals equipped with a great deal of handling equipment. The ports able to receive existing container ships are few in number and cannot deliver goods close to their utilization point.
Moreover, they are unable to sail up most estuaries and definitely cannot navigate in canals because their draft and air draft are too largexe2x80x94the latter due particularly to the wheelhouse, the handling equipment and, where present, radar support masts.
In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 5,359,952 is known, describing a container ship able to move on rivers, with a retractable pilot house, and a retractable crane located on a deck separating two holds.
However, such a ship has two major drawbacks, namely its inability to sail at sea and possible loss of space due to the presence of the handling equipment between the two holds.
The goal of the invention is to remedy these drawbacks by providing an autonomous container ship able to sail on the open seas as well as in rivers or canals, and having all or some of the following options:
it can sail along wide canals and at sea,
it allows for intermodal transport, namely at sea and in rivers or canals from river ports, with no financial outlay for dock cranes or long wharves,
it makes sea-river intermodal transport economically competitive (by grouping transportation and loading activities),
it optimizes the critical size of the load (financial aspect) and the compactness of the ship in a canal (within the canal width)
it avoids reloading containers onto a sea-going vessel at the end of the river part of the route,
it is possible to complete loading, on an outsize deck, for the sea-going part of the route,
it provides service as complete as that of a trucker but uses the sea-river method.
An autonomous container ship according to the invention of the type having a hull, a bridge, propulsion means, at least one hold for receiving containers, means for handling these containers, ballasting means, and means for varying the air draft being in particular means for retracting the bridge, characterized by having watertight hatch covers and by the handling means being comprised of a portal crane moving on rails located on either side of said hold, and by having means for retracting this portal crane into a special area of the hold, said area also being able to receive containers when said portal crane is not stowed.
According to a particular feature, the holds are surrounded by coaming to prevent their being flooded and said rails are disposed on said coaming.
According to another feature, a lift retracts said handling means and part of said rails.
According to another feature, said special area is disposed aft of the bridge in the stern of the ship.
According to another feature, the ship has means for retracting masts supporting the radar detection means such as a radar.
According to another feature, the ship has watertight hatch covers able to support the containers loaded on deck; said watertight hatch covers can be manipulated by the handling means.
According to a particular feature, the ballasting means are able to compensate for the variation in draft and associated air draft depending on the degree of loading of the total cargo allowable in rivers.
According to an additional feature, the ship has a double hull and the ballasting means are tanks disposed between said hulls and supplied with water or not supplied with water by pumps.
According to another feature, the ballasting speed of said ballasting means is at least equal to the container loading or unloading rate with said handling means.
According to a particular feature, the ship has additional flotation devices comprised of for example an inflatable buoy system. These inflatable buoys can be built into the side of the ship to increase flotation inertia thus limiting pitching and rolling of the ship during handling operations.
According to another feature, the ship has pitch stabilizing means that could be comprised of a system transferring solid weights. This solid weight moves in the ship to compensate for container movements during handling operations.
According to another feature, the ship has means for retracting the structures on board the ship that have a large air draft, typically on the order of several meters.
According to another feature, the ship has safety means able to determine the value of the headroom under an obstacle and the value of the ship""s air draft as well as either means for displaying information on these values or alarm means when these values are incompatible or means for controlling all or some of said retracting means.
This ship is also characterized by having propulsion means ensuring maneuverability in ports and moving the ship in the forward or rearward directions.
According to another feature, the means retracting the handling means and the special area 15* of hold 2* are disposed on one side of the bridge while the holds for receiving the containers are on the other side of the bridge. Such an arrangement facilitates transport of bulk goods and also permits forward viewing of the ship from bridge 4 when the handling means are not retracted and above special area 15.
The range of ships according to the invention includes ships able to carry between 2 and 150 ISO twenty-foot containers (6.058xc3x972.438xc3x972.591 meters).
These ships are designed along identical architectural principles and can thus be built from modules.
These principles can be chosen for the hull, the engines, container handling, and balancing of the ship.
The hull can be of the monohull type.
According to another embodiment, it can be of the catamaran type or combination type, monohull forward and catamaran in the stem, or the tunnel hull type.
It can be powered by diesel, drive shaft, and screws.
It can also be powered by an active rudder.
According to one embodiment, propulsion is provided by hydrojet.
According to another embodiment, propulsion is provided by pumpjet.
The ship can also be powered by a cycloidal propeller such as that known as xe2x80x9cVoithxe2x80x9d manufactured by the Voith-Schneider Company.
Propulsion can also be provided by a device known as xe2x80x9cpod azimuthxe2x80x9d made by the Schottel Company.
The drive can be activated by a diesel engine, by an electric motor, or by a disc motor.
A combination of these various features provides an architectural principle for the range of ships.
Also, the ship must be buildable for a cost giving the investors an alternative to road transport.
To accomplish this, the technological solutions leading to economically viable solutions must have the following features.
The ship must be able to carry a large payload relative to its displacement.
The equipment must be as versatile as possible, implying a common power source for propulsion, storage of the various elements, and handling. The handling means can be used, at least partially, both on board and on land, and the propulsion means provide not only for cruising speed of the ship and appropriate speeds for estuaries, canals, and ports, but also maneuverability in ports. In addition, the ship balancing means can be used in handling operations.
The set of ships according to the invention are fully self-sufficient in the following areas:
sailing: fast and slow drive and navigation capability in the open sea;
life on board: quarters for a three- to five-man crew for several days;
handling: handling means enabling the ship to load and unload containers in unequipped ports;
balancing: a balancing system provides rolling and pitching stability of the ship while sailing and during the container handling operations.
The invention also relates to an autonomous container ship according to the invention of the type having a hull, a bridge, propulsion means, at least one hold for receiving containers, means for handling these containers, ballasting means, and means for varying the air draft being in particular means for retracting the bridge, characterized by having watertight hatch covers and by the holds being surrounded by coaming to prevent their being flooded, and also by the handling means being comprised of a portal crane movable on rails placed on either side of said hold, said rails being disposed on said coaming and by having means for retracting this portal crane on a smaller deck located behind the bridge in the stern of the ship.